Director-General condemns murder of Pakistani TV journalist Ashiq Ali Mangi
26-02-2010 (Paris)
Patrick Baz/AFP
Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, today condemned the murder of Pakistani television journalist Ashiq Ali Mangi, who was shot dead on 17 February outside his district press club in the southern province of Sind, Pakistan.
“I condemn the murder of Ashiq Ali Mangi,” the Director-General declared. “Attacks against journalists constitute a serious and unacceptable threat to democracy, which is based on the fundamental human right of freedom of expression. For such crimes to go unpunished undermines respect for human rights and the rule of law. I welcome the statements by Pakistani authorities that this brutal murder will be investigated thoroughly and the culprits brought to justice.”
Ashiq Ali Mangi was riding his motorcycle on his way to the Khairpur Press Club in the town of Gambat, north of Karachi, when he was shot by two unidentified men who then fled the scene, according to local news reports. A reporter for the private television channel Mehran TV, Mr Mangi, 30, may have been targeted due to his coverage of a local feud between two ethnic groups.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Pakistan was the fourth deadliest country in the world for journalists in 2009. It placed 10th on CPJ’s 2009 Impunity Index of countries that have consistently failed to solve media murders since 1999.
Ashiq Ali Mangi was riding his motorcycle on his way to the Khairpur Press Club in the town of Gambat, north of Karachi, when he was shot by two unidentified men who then fled the scene, according to local news reports. A reporter for the private television channel Mehran TV, Mr Mangi, 30, may have been targeted due to his coverage of a local feud between two ethnic groups.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Pakistan was the fourth deadliest country in the world for journalists in 2009. It placed 10th on CPJ’s 2009 Impunity Index of countries that have consistently failed to solve media murders since 1999.
UNESCO is the only United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…”
Related themes/countries
· Pakistan
· Press Freedom
· UNESCO Remembers Assassinated Journalists
· Weekly newsletter
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- UNESCO Press Release No.2010-23
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